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We all know that the workforce is experiencing difficulty finding top talent that specialize technology, engineering, science, and math. It’s no surprise that there is a huge skills gap in students pursuing these types of careers. The current need for professionals with these skill sets is an all-time high and the demand is only growing with the baby-boomer generation retiring at an exponential rate.

When describing the skills gap, manufacturing and logistics professionals point to a range of issues that sit as far apart as a lack of hands-on ability with industry-specific tools and technologies to very basic considerations such as adherence to safety policies, productive work ethic or even day-to-day job attendance.

Speed Interviews: Not Just for Dating Anymore

We live in a fast-paced, high-touch point world. We are now accessible on various devices at all times of the day. With that, there’s an inherent need for speed—in everything we do.

Speed interviews, which have most recently become popular as an effective recruiting tactic for technology professionals, typically result in the same high quality hires but take much less time than the traditional interviewing lifecycle. The technique has proven effective in hiring for a wide variety of positions including project managers, business analysts, developers and the like.

The Players, Who’s Involved

Successfully conducting speed interviews primarily involves three people on the interviewer side, and then of course the candidates themselves:

Japanese-American Exchange Program Heralds Great Knowledge-Sharing

Recently, Randstad USA hosted an internal International Exchange Program with its Japanese colleagues. The experience, which incorporated tactical learning, office visits and shadowing, also included a visit to a local Walmart, per request, and a trip to a Texas steakhouse.

I very much enjoyed the recent Business and Workplace post about Marina Shifrin, a fearless millennial, dancing her way out the door of her office (forever). But as I read the post and watched the video, I noticed a comment my colleague wrote, “Millennials have a very different mindset around the work they do and the value they bring to a company when compared to other generations in the workforce.”

Marina Shifrin & How Millennials Say, ‘I Quit!’

a viral video and the mentality of millennials at work

Social Media for Productivity Improvement

Throughout my career, I have worked at several professional services organizations—from a couple of large consulting firms to a boutique private equity firm to now working here at Randstad USA. But regardless of the size of the organization, one of the most frequently asked questions I receive is around the value of social media and specifically how employees in a business-to-business organization can utilize these tools better at all levels for productivity improvement and team collaboration.

The job market’s upward trend continues in June with some of the highest employee confidence levels since the recession.

Although the market recoiled slightly from May’s surging numbers, the addition of 195,000 jobs in Jobs Report June 2013 and a recovering housing market gave way to increased employee confidence levels. The Randstad Employee Confidence Index reached 56.8, increasing 2 points from May.